How I Could Use $100 to Make the World a Better Place
Posted: Wednesday, July 11, 2007
by Judy H. Wright
Artichoke Press
Cereal. Mush. Oatmeal. Granola. Fruit Loops. Frosted Flakes. Cheerios. Captain Crunch. Kix. Raisin
I will take my $100 bill, double coupons and newspaper ad for items on sale and I will go shopping. My list will include all the boxes and bags of cereal my shopping cart will hold. It might take two carts to carry it all, because I am a good shopper. Cereal that routinely sells for $3.49 a box can be found for less than $1.50 if you know where to look and have the time. $100 will buy 67 boxes and help many little children stop that growling in their stomachs.
Vitamins, protein, taste and kid appeal are my guiding factors when I hit the stores looking for cereal bargains for the local food pantry. My goal is to get the most for the money and to be able to offer kids a meal with some nutrition that they can fix themselves if necessary.
Beans, rice, meat and vegetables taste delicious when there is an adult present to cook. It would be a wonderful world if families could count on having a sit down dinner each night around the table. In an ideal world, there would be plenty of good food and pleasant conversation shared at that table.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
As a parent educator, I have heard the stories of kids and families going hungry and kids left to forage for food on their own. The number of latch-key kids in America is staggering. Many children as young as 5 or 6 are coming home to an empty house and bare cupboards because parents are working at low level jobs just to keep a roof over their heads. They barely have time to make it to the local food pantry and certainly don’t have time to shop for bargains or good tasting cereal for the kids. So I do it for them.
Kids need to be able to have foods readily available that are easy to fix, contain some nutrition and taste good. If parents are unavailable, either physically or emotionally, the children need food that fills the belly. If necessary, cereal can be eaten right out of the box.
I buy and donate peanut butter and jelly. I buy and donate milk, apples and bread. But mostly, I buy and donate cereal, a lot of cereal.
You can’t feed the soul, and educate the mind until you feed the belly. So have a bowl of Cinnamon Life and share some with your sister.
About the author: Judy H. Wright is a parent educator and author from beautiful Montana. You can download free articles and sign up for the ezine;
The Artichoke—finding the heart of the story in the journey of life at the website html://www.ArtichokePress.com To schedule media presentations call 406.549.9813 or html://JudyWright@MontanaSpreakers.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)A lovely concept and a great cause! It reminded me of the mission that Jamie Oliver is on in Britian and all the good work he has done for children's diets and the school supplied food.
Judy, Good and practical insights. Thanks for what you are doing.
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